 |
Nurul, the eldest daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, is running for the March polls |
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia's snap general elections will see a record number of relatives of incumbent and former officials contesting for seats in the federal or state parliaments.
"I'm offering myself for the people of Lembah Pantai," Nurul Izzah Anwar, the eldest daughter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, told Reuters on Thursday, February 28, referring to a constituency in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Nurul, a 27-year-old candidate for the opposition Keadilan party, denied she was contesting as a hedge for her father.
"If they are voting, they are voting for me."
Anwar, who was heir apparent in 1998 to then-premier Mahathir Mohamad, spent six years in jail on sex and corruption charges.
The sex charge was overturned but the corruption count bars him from taking public office until April.
Anwar hopes to eventually return to parliament through a by-election and one way is to take over Nurul's seat, if she wins.
"I want to win this election for myself and for my party," said Nurul, running against incumbent Women Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil.
Anwar's wife, the Keadilan party leader and its only MP in the outgoing parliament, is also running for reelection.
The polls will see three opposition parties running against the ruling National Front coalition, which holds 200 of the 219 seats in the national legislature.
They have agreed to field just one candidate against the ruling coalition in each of the 222 constituencies, avoiding damaging three-cornered contests.
Candidates will also be vying for a total 505 seats in twelve state assemblies.
The National Front coalition has governed Malaysia in various forms since its 1957 independence.
Dynasties
Nurul is not the only second generation of a political family to make its debut in next week's vote.
Mukhriz, the 44-year-old son of former premier Mahathir Mohamed, is running on the slate of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the key partner in the ruling coalition.
He will contest the polls in his father's home turf in northern Kedah state.
"I do not want the people to say that I am setting up a dynasty," Mahathir said earlier commenting on his son's candidacy.
"We should not have a dynasty in our country's politics."
Khairy Jamaluddin, the hugely influential son-in-law of incumbent Premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is also running in western Negeri Sembilan state.
Lim Guan Eng, the son of outspoken parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, will also be in the race.
Gobind Deo Singh, son of the chairman of the opposition Democratic Action Party Karpal Singh, is also running.
A number of incumbent officials have already succeeded their parents in politics.
Deputy Premier Najib Razak is the son of the country's second prime minister Razak Hussein while Education Minister Hishammuddin is the son of its third prime minister Hussein Onn.
|
